The IUF Story

The story the I-U-F (International Uranian Fellowship) began in 2005, at the 25th Anniversary of the founding of the Uranian Society in New York City, which, of course, coincided with the birthday of The Society’s founder, Charles Emerson. The late Udo Rudolph was coming from Hamburg and was supposed to address us, an event we all eagerly anticipated, but unfortunately, he was unable to join us at this special occasion. Subsequently, his lecture was delivered by Lietta catoni and Francine Rasenberg. Yet this became a blessing in disguise, as Dr. Lietta Catoni (Montepulciano, Italy), a collaborator and a colleague of Udo, who did attend our celebration, decided to hold the first International Uranian Conference in Bologna, Italy, in June 2006, which Udo attended. This event was ably organized with the energetic help of Tiziana Ghiardini, the president of the Astrological Centre in Bologna – Il Centro Astrologico. Bologna’s architectural treasures are well known and wonderful, but the gelato and the Italian coffee is truly something to write home about…

After the Bologna conference, Udo and a number of people were invited by Lietta and her husband Carlo to their home in Montepulciano (2 hrs south of Bologna) for a private post-conference get-together. Udo conducted a private symposium-workshop at the home of Lietta and Carlo. It was a masterpiece of Uranian investigation into the case of a sudden enlightenment and life-changing experience. We were also treated to the magnificent landscape of Tuscany and the famous Montepulciano wineries. At the end of that event we found it hard to say goodbye and so decided to meet again the following year, and the rest is history, as they say.

The I-U-F was formally founded at the next International Uranian Conference, which was held in The Hague, Netherlands (2007) and was organized by Francine Rasenberg, the Secretary of WKO – Working Group on Cosmobiology (a Dutch Astrological Research Group). It was formed by a small group of the charter members, sitting over a bottle of Chianti in a wonderful Italian restaurant. We all felt that the bond we were forming was growing, taking shape and becoming more and more meaningful to all of us. We wanted to preserve and seal this, and so declared it as a new group – the International Uranian Fellowship, with a vision and a mission to preserve and continue the teachings of the Hamburg School.The next I-U-F Conference was held in Riga, Latvia (2008), with the help of Valery Babaev, the head of The Baltic Astrology School, who was also a student and collaborator of Udo Rudolph at the time. It was a very exciting event too, held at a municipal center, with a huge auditorium and two large projection screens side by side – a speaker’s dream… Riga’s historical center and buildings were was also an unexpected delight to the eye.

The 4th I-U-F Conference was in June 2009 in the home city of The Hamburg School, arranged by Michael Feist, Udo’s nephew.
Udo Rudolph did not live to see it as he passed away on October 13, 2008. The conference was held in the spacious and impressive auditorium of the city’s Anthropological Museum, and the Italian restaurants in the area saw us quite frequently… Hamburg is very green with beautiful scenic canals and a famous impressive port (Hamburger Hafen) on the North Sea. What a treat, indeed.
The 5th I-U-F Conference was held in New York City, on October 23-24, 2010, under the auspices of The Uranian Society. It was a great success, topped off by a great dinner party for all participants, graciously organized by Liane Thomas Wade, our president.

Written by Meira B. Epstein, who had the privilege of attending and lecturing at all those conferences in person.
January 3, 2011.